Outlander Book Club: The Fiery Cross Chapter 5 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
A man brings a dog to Claire for her to treat. This dog had got into a fight with another animal, but Claire notes to herself that it probably wasn’t initially a fight. Murray MacLeod even helps to hold the animal down, although it doesn’t work. As she gets to the injury, the dog jumps off the table and it leads to a comedic moment as she tries to get the dog back.
She manages to treat the dog, although the old man doesn’t show his gratitude that much. Claire’s focus doesn’t remain on the man for too long. Brianna notes that a gentleman is coming over. This gentleman has been watching for a while, debating over whether to see Claire or Murray. The incident with the dog has made him choose Claire.
The man, Mr. Goodwin, has suffered a dislocated elbow leading to a trapped nerve, a broken arm, and some broken teeth. Claire gets to work on everything, as she finds out how he got the injuries.
He was at Hillsborough, but not for the riots. He lives there and happened to see some of the events, including an attack on one of his friends. It’s because of the attack on the friend that he hopes people will talk to Archie Hayes, but he isn’t going to turn the man in who attacked him if he sees him at the Gathering.
We get a sense of the violence within the riots at Hillsborough. While we don’t hear about everything that happened, it’s clear that those involved in the riots were there for blood. They were angry, and there were a few people who got hurt.
Not everyone agrees with the actions at Hillsborough. We already know that from earlier chapters in The Fiery Cross, and now we get to understand why. Was the attack necessary, or an act of violence?
Claire treats the arm before working on the teeth. She can’t fix the teeth but she can pull out the broken one to avoid infection in the gum. However, she notes that Brianna has gone pale, and Claire knows that Bree will want to step away from this. Claire tells Bree that she can go, and Bree certainly doesn’t argue about that!